How to Repay God

 

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord. (Psalm 116:12–14)

The very use of the language “rendering to God for all his benefits to me” makes me nervous. Payback can so easily imply that grace is like a mortgage. It’s really generous, but you have to pay it back.

Paul said in Acts 17:25, God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” In other words, you can’t give anything to God or do anything for God that he hasn’t first given to you and done for you.

You see this again in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” So none of our work can ever be a payment to God, because the very work is another gift from God. With every deed we do for God we go deeper into debt to grace.

So in Psalm 116 what keeps the paying of vows free from the dangers of being treated like a debt payment is that the “payment” is, in reality, not an ordinary payment, but another act of receiving which magnifies the ongoing grace of God. It does not magnify our resourcefulness.

The psalmist’s answer to his own question, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits?” is, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” In other words, I call on the Lord to fill the cup. To pay back the Lord means to go on receiving from the Lord so that the Lord’s inexhaustible goodness will be magnified.

Lifting up the cup of salvation signifies taking the Lord’s satisfying salvation in hand and drinking it and expecting more. We know this because of the next phrase: “I will . . . call on the name of the Lord.” I will call for more help. What shall I render to God for graciously answering my call? Answer: I shall call again. I will render to God the praise and the tribute that he is never in need of me, but is always overflowing with benefits when I need him (which I always do).

Then the psalmist says, in the third place, “I will pay my vows to the Lord.” But how will they be paid? They will be paid by holding up the cup of salvation and by calling on the Lord. That is, they will be paid by faith in the promise that more grace — all-sufficient grace — is always on the way.

God-Given Foes and God-Given Faith

 

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . not frightened in anything by your opponents. . . . For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. (Philippians 1:27–29)

Paul told the Philippians that living worthy of the gospel of Christ meant fearlessness before enemies. Then he gave the logic of fearlessness.

The logic is this: God has given you two gifts, not just one — faith and suffering. That’s what verse 29 says. “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” Granted to you to believe, and granted to you to suffer.

In this context that means: Both your faith in the face of suffering, and your suffering are gifts of God. When Paul says, don’t be frightened by your opponents, he had two reasons in his mind why they don’t need to be frightened:

One reason is that the opponents are in the hand of God. Their opposition is a gift from God. He governs it. That’s the first point of verse 29.

And the other reason not to be afraid is that your fearlessness, that is, your faith, is also in the hand of God. It too is a gift. That is the other point of verse 29.

So the logic of fearlessness in the face of adversity is this double truth: Both your adversity and your faith in the face of adversity are gifts of God.

Why is this called living “worthy of the gospel of Christ”? Because the gospel is the good news that Christ’s blood of the covenant infallibly obtained for all his people the sovereign working of God to give us faith and to govern our enemies — always for our eternal good. That’s what the gospel secured. Therefore, to live that way shows the power and goodness of the gospel.

Therefore, fear not. Your adversaries can do no more than God grants. And he will grant all the faith you need. These promises are blood-bought and sealed. They are gospel promises.

OUR DEBT OF CHRISTLIKE LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 07, 2022.

SUBJECT: OUR DEBT OF CHRISTLIKE LOVE!

Memory verse: "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15 vs 12.) 

READ: Romans 13 vs 8 - 10:

13:8: Owe no one anything except to love one another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

13:9: For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

13:10: Love does no harm to a neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

INTIMATION:

Christlike love is a debt that we owe. We are permanently in debt to Christ for His love He lavishly poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay this debt is by fulfilling our obligation to love others in turn. Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours, we will always have the obligation to love our neighbors. Jesus, our role model, asked God to forgive the people who were putting Him to death (Luke 23 vs 34). Jesus was suffering the most horrible, painful death ever devised by sinful man, and He looked at the people responsible for His suffering and prayed for their forgiveness. And because we are all sinners, we all played a part in putting Jesus to death. 

The extent to which Jesus went to give Himself for us—His life of inestimable value for our lives of sin that is completely worthless, manifests the extent of the love that Christ demonstrated toward us, and is commanding us to have the same for one another. The greatest expression of love that can be made is that one lay down his or her life for another. This is what Jesus did for us, and wants us to do for one another: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13 vs 34; 15 vs 12) This is called the “royal Law, and was given by our great King Jesus Christ.

The verses in the passage we read today discuss the foundation upon which Christian behavior rests. Love is the motivation of Christian behavior, and thus, it is the glue that binds the fellowship of the children of God. The one who loves his neighbor as himself will go beyond what is stated by the requirements of law. He does not view the law as a legal set of rules one accomplishes in order to relieve himself from further obligations. Therefore, in carrying out the principle of loving one’s neighbor as himself, he will do what the law requires, but go beyond the requirements of law.

Let us be imitators of God as dear children (Ephesians 5 vs 1). Just as children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ. Our love for others should be of the same kind—a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service. Christlikeness (Christianity) is based on love. All human relationships that are true and enduring find their bond in the action of love. Jesus says we should love everyone, including our enemies and treat them well. Doing this shows that Jesus is truly the Lord of your life. This is possible only for those who give themselves fully to God, because only Him, through the help of the Holy Spirit, can deliver people from natural selfishness, and help us show love to those for whom we may not feel love. 

Love will carry one beyond the limitations of law. Commandments limits; love expands. Commandments restrict; love frees. Commandments lead us to believe how little we can do; love opens the door of unlimited possibilities. Our vertical relationship with God is established on the foundation of love. Our horizontal relationship with our fellow man is established on love. The principle of love permeates and identifies the very nature of Christianity. This is the principle by which one can determine both the true God and those who serve Him. This is the new commandment of Jesus by which His disciples are identified. Any faith that does not maintain this principle cannot be the true faith that has originated from a God who is love. 

When we fail to love, we are actually breaking God’s law. Examine your attitude and actions toward others. Do you build people or tear them down? When you’re ready to criticize someone, remember God’s law of love and say something good instead. Saying something beneficial to others will cure you of finding fault and increase your ability to obey God’s law of love. It is easy to excuse our indifference to others merely because we have no legal obligation to help them and even to justify harming them if our actions are technically legal! But Jesus does not leave loopholes in the law of love. Whenever love demands it, we are to go beyond human legal requirements and imitate the God of love. 

When we believers lose the motivation of love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon we lose our unity. Have you talked behind someone’s back? Have you focused on others’ shortcomings instead of their strength? Remind yourself of Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself. When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person’s positive qualities. When problems need to be addressed, confront in love rather than gossip. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You manifested Your unparalleled love for us by given Your only begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins. Endue me with the spirit of love that I may imitate You as Your child, and love You and others as You loved me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

SUFFERING CANNOT SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 06, 2022.

SUBJECT: SUFFERING CANNOT SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE! 

Memory verse: "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Romans 8 vs 35.)

READ: Job 3 vs 23 - 26:

3:23: Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

3:24: For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings pour out like water.

3:25: For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.

3:26: I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.

INTIMATION: 

Nothing of this world can separate the Christian from the love of God. Trials and grief, whether temporary or enduring, do not destroy the real purpose of life. The physical sufferings that are launched against him by the forces of evil is an effort to separate him from the love of God. But they are not enough to separate the Christian from the love of God. 

Life is not given merely for happiness and personal fulfillment but for us to serve and honor God. The worth and meaning of life is not based on what we feel but on the one reality no one can take away—God’s love for us. Don’t assume that because God truly loves you, He will always prevent suffering. The opposite may be true. God’s love cannot be measured or limited by how great or how little we may suffer.

In Romans 8 vs 38 - 39, the apostle Paul teaches us that nothing can separate us from God’s love. And even in the spiritual realm, Satan has no subjective power over the Christian. Satan cannot of his will snatch the Christian from the love of God. He may go about in the world as a roaring lion (First Peter 5 vs 8), but his power of deception is not effective in reference to those who know and love the truth. He does not have the power to subject any Christian against his will who has given himself to God. 

The Bible, in the aforementioned  erases, contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scripture. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. But the apostle Paul exclaims that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of His unconquerable love. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s presence. God tells us how great His love is so that we will feel totally secure in Him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid. 

Though the righteous might have to endure the greatest of sufferings, they must realize that God is working out His purpose for the existence of the world. In His majesty He has everything in control. God will always call on our faith in the fact that He is in control. Though Satan is introduced as an adversary in the life of the saint, the saint must never forget that it is God who is controlling our existence and the existence of the universe. Since nothing that exists is outside the control of God, then God must be trusted to care for that which is in existence. 

God works in “all things”—not just isolated incidents—for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill His purpose. Note also that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called by Him, that is, those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ. 

In the passage we read today, Job felt that God was treating him as an enemy when, in fact, God was his friend and thought highly of him (Job 1 vs 8; 2 vs 3). In his difficulty, Job pointed at the wrong person. It was Satan, not God, who was his enemy. Job has been careful not to worship material possessions but to worship God alone. Here he was overwhelmed by calamities that mocked his caution, and he complained about trials that came despite his right living. All the principles by which he had lived were crumbling, and Job began to lose his perspective.

Because we stress ultimate causes, most people believe that both good and evil come from God, they also thought we are responsible for our own destinies. But the evil power loose in this world accounts for much of the suffering we experience. God has profound love for His people. No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be separated from God’s love. Suffering should not drive us away from God but help us to identify with Him and allow His love to heal us.

Prayer: Abba Father, I am persuaded that Your thoughts for me is of good and of evil. Though the devil throws his darts at me, I know You will turn everything for my longe-range good. Stemming from Your love for me, You gave Your only Son to die for my sins, and I know there is nothing You not give and do for me to live for You. Endue me with the spirit of love, that I may love You and others as You love me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Present and Powerful Love

 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:35)

Notice three things in Romans 8:35.

1. Christ is loving us now.

A wife might say of her deceased husband: Nothing will separate me from his love. She might mean that the memory of his love will be sweet and powerful all her life. But that is not what Paul means here.

In Romans 8:34 it says plainly, “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” The reason Paul can say that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ is because Christ is alive and is still loving us right now.

He is at the right hand of God and is therefore ruling for us. And he is interceding for us, which means he is seeing to it that his finished work of redemption does in fact save us hour by hour, and bring us safely to eternal joy. His love is not just a memory. It is a moment-by-moment action by the omnipotent, living Son of God, to bring us to everlasting joy.

2. This love of Christ is effective in protecting us from separation, and therefore is not a universal love for all, but a particular love for his people — that is, those who, according to Romans 8:28, love God and are called according to his purpose.

This is the love of Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” It is Christ’s love for the church, his bride. Christ has a love for all, and he has a special, saving, preserving love for his bride. You know you are part of that bride if you trust Christ. Anyone — no exceptions — anyone who trusts Christ can say, I am part of his bride, his church, his called and chosen ones, the ones who, according to Romans 8:35, are kept and protected forever no matter what.

3. This omnipotent, effective, protecting love does not spare us from calamities in this life, but brings us safely through them to everlasting joy with God.

Death will happen to us, but it will not separate us. So when Paul says in verse 35 that the “sword” will not separate us from the love of Christ, he means: even if we are killed, we are not separated from the love of Christ.

So the sum of the matter in verse 35 is this: Jesus Christ is right now mightily loving his people with omnipotent, moment-by-moment love that does not always rescue us from calamity but preserves us for everlasting joy in his presence even through suffering and death.

The Goal of Christ’s Love

 

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.” (John 17:24)

Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we’re his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.

God does indeed make much of us (he adopts us into his family!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.

Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together with him?

It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” To be sure, this is joy indeed. But not the heights, and not the focus.

What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?

Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”

He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.He says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and his words are amazing.

We walk around with him all afternoon, utterly amazed at what we are seeing.

Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die for us) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation — all these have to happen. They are the act of love.

But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him, and see his jaw-dropping glory, and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves as we see and savor all that God is for us in him.

So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.

Press on this. It’s what Jesus prayed for in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.”

THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS IN LOVE!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 05, 2022.

SUBJECT : THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS IN LOVE!

Memory verse: "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (First John 4 vs 8.)

READ: First John 4 vs 7 - 8, 12 - 13:

4:7: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. 

4:8: He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

4:12: No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 

4:13: By this we know we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit.

INTIMATION:

The Owner and Giver of life is God. And God is love. The best use of anything is in the hands of the owner. God is the Producer and  Owner of life, and God is Love, therefore, the best use of life is in God—in Love. In leading a life of intimacy with God, love is what matters most. To know God is to know how to love because God is love, and created us in His image and likeness. The most important lesson He wants us to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we should be like Him most. It’s noteworthy that love is the foundation of every command He has given us. The Bible, in Galatians 5 vs 14, says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Love should be your top priority, primary objective, and greatest ambition. Love should, and is not a good part of your life; it's the most important part of your life. The Scripture in First Corinthians 14 vs 1, says, "Pursue love, ...." To "pursue" means to "chase after," "strive for," "to work hard at," "persist in." It is not enough to say, "One of the things I want in my life is to be loving," as if it's in your top ten list. Relationships must have priority in your life above everything else.

God is invisible, and a Spirit. How then do we develop intimate relationship with Him? We only draw closer to Him if we love one another. In the passage we read today, the Scripture clearly stated that ‘no one has seen God at any time.’ If we relate in love with one another, we demonstrate the love nature of God in us, and His love has been perfected in us. Therefore, by loving one another we know we are His followers, we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” (John 13 vs 34 - 35.)

Love is much more than simply warm feelings. It is an attitude that reveals itself in action. How can we love others as Jesus loved us? Remember He gave His inestimable life for ours that is completely worthless because of sin. Therefore, we love like a Him; (1) By helping when it is not convenient, (2) by giving when it hurts, (3) by devoting energy to others' welfare rather than our own, (4) by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. This kind of loving is hard to do. That is why people notice when you do it and know you are empowered by a supernatural source. 

Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That's why we are given a lifetime to learn it. Of course, God wants us to love everyone, but He is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in His family. In heaven we will enjoy God's family forever, but first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving. 

When we are not motivated by love we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Have you talked behind someone's back? Have you focused on others' shortcomings instead of their strengths? When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person's positive qualities. If there are problems that need to be addressed, it is better to confront in love than in hate or to gossip.

God trains us by giving us family "responsibilities," and the foremost of these is to practice loving each other. God wants you to be in regular, close, fellowship with other believers so you can develop the skill of loving. Love cannot be learned in isolation. You have to be around people; imperfect, frustrating, irritating people, all manner, to learn how to love in action, and as Jesus loved.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with Your excellent spirit of love that I may love You and others, and be found worthy to be a disciple of Christ, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!